Storytime at Brooklyn House

by Shadow Priesstes

Due to a failed prank by Horus the peace discissions between the Egyptian and Greco-Roman Pantheons needed to be speed up so the adventures of both sides got made into books which of course must be first read-over to see if they are right. The only problem is that no one expected unplanned guests falling in, literally.

12. First a turkey, then channelling your

A/N: so here is a new double issue chapter seeing how this seems to make things go a bit faster, other news seeing how I'm not exactly getting any comments for this fic and my Percy Jackson reading fic also seems to be ignored in that department since I did a new update I come to the conclusion that I will continue those three fics after getting at least ten more reviews for both of them. Till then I will busy myself with my older fics.

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XII. First a turkey, then channelling your father

"I don't remember any Egyptian creature that looks like a turkey." Ruby said while looking at both her husband and brother-in-law, both of them only shrugged, they were also kind of lost.

"If I counted right this will be in Carter's point of view so this title is the work of his fantasy." Desjardins stated while he tried to keep his gaze from travelling to Amos, it still unnerved him how close of a bond the man seemed to have with the Red Lord, he did not know how that happened with the God being the enemy in this book.

"You will soon know." Carter said, his hands still on Horus's feathers, he hoped that this chapter will calm the other down.

"Cleo, could you please." Zia called to the girl who nodded her head and started reading.

[My turn]

First of all, Sadie's "puppy dog" comment was totally out of line. I was not starry-eyed about Zia.

Zia looked at her boyfriend with a raised eyebrow as he blushed and did his best to avoid everyone's' gazes.

It's just that I don't meet a lot of people who can throw fireballs and battle gods.

"Sure Carter." replied the initiates and Sadie as Zia giggled in amusement, she really could not help her reaction.

"It is adorable to hear about how the children experience their first crush, which seems to be a lasting one." Ruby whispered to Rachel as she leaned over her husband to get closer to the other woman.

"I'm glad that my daughter will find a good young man to be with, this is what most mothers wish for their daughters." Rachel replied back and this was the truth, what she saw and heard till now about Carter showed him as a caring, hard working and intelligent young man and those were qualities she appreciated in a man.

[Stop making faces at me, Sadie. You look like Khufu.]

There were some laughs about this, but the Gods were still not moving from their hosts laps, but at least their whimpering had ceased though the shivers were still strong.

Anyway, we plunged into the sand tunnel.

Everything went dark. My stomach tingled with that top-of-the-roller-coaster weightlessness as I hurtled forward. Hot winds whipped around me, and my skin burned.

"So, this is what others feel when going through a portal?" Zia asked curiously while looking over at her boyfriend and Sadie.

"You didn't feel like them?" Ruby asked curiously while Amir remembered how his mother could with her free hand reach into burning fire and not be harmed by it.

"As a fire user I don't have trouble with the heat." Zia explained as Sadie remembered how little trouble the other woman had to go inside the sea of lava by the Sunny Acres and didn't get burned to death. Also now that they knew that Zia's grandmother had been part of the House of Life meant that she was also from the blood of the pharaohs and this is why she could host Ra.

"At least we now also know why people have that feeling when using the portals, seeing that Set is partly associated with fire." Julius said before glancing at his older self and his family who were still busy taking care about the Gods who still were going through a post-traumatic reaction.

Then I tumbled out onto a cold tile floor, and Sadie and Zia crashed on top of me.

"I know that people see it as a courtesy when a guy lets a girl go through a door first, but by portals is it better if the guy goes first." Sadie said grinning.

"It certainly guarantees a soft landing." Zia agreed as she also smiled.

"So glad that I could be of use." Carter replied sarcastically as some of the others laughed at him.

"Know how you feel son, but at least you got two girls on you." Julius grumbled as Amos snickered with Ruby and Desjardins was smirking at the magician.

"If you put it like that." Carter said while looking at the four adults, Zia and Sadie were probably more lighter to have landing on you then the others, not that his mum was fat, but having three people crash on you must have hurt worse then in his case.

"Looks like as if landing in strange situations is also a family trait." Walt whispered to Sadie who nodded her head, it was fun to know these facts about her family.

"Ow!" I grumbled.

"Understandable." Julius said looking darkly at the other three who still looked amused, that had been not fun to land at the bottom of the pile.

The fist thing I noticed was the fine layer of sand covering my body like powdered sugar.

There was a soft snicker from Set as she slightly raised her head to look at Carter.

"Thi…this was the…first time someone ma…made that comparison." she said in a slightly shaking tone as Carter also gave a soft laugh.

"I still don't know from where that had come from." he admitted, at least seemed Set to be getting calmer, so the others will also be fine as they continue with the chapter.

"Though I need to agree about the fact, that fine sand can really feel like powdered sugar." Ruby said after calming herself somewhat down from her amusement.

Then my eyes adjusted to the harsh light. We were in a big building like a shopping mall, with crowds bustling around us.

No... not a mall. It was a two-level airport concourse, with shops, lots of windows, and polished steel columns.

"I admit that I felt kind of confused at that time about the place we have landed." Carter said with a laugh.

"You tell me, the only airport I had been at beside when I got brought to London had been on a field trip." Sadie said, at that time was she kind of baffled, but she had also felt strangely at home, figure with her being form an Egyptian royal line and hosting a Goddess from that land.

Outside, it was dark, so I knew we must be in a different time zone. Announcements echoed over the intercom in a language that sounded like Arabic.

"I was still slightly shaken." Carter said when everyone who knew where they had probably gone raised their eyebrows at him.

Sadie spit sand out of her mouth. "Yuck!"

"I learned to never again open my mouth when using one of those." Sadie grumbled as the others snickered.

"Come on," Zia said. "We can't stay here."

I struggled to my feet. People were streaming past—some in Western clothes, some in robes and headscarves. A family arguing in German rushed by and almost ran over me with their suitcases.

There were some snickers at this, someone who was dragged to so many travels should have better reflexes then that when it comes to sidestep rabid suitcases.

Then I turned and saw something I recognized. In the middle of the concourse stood a life-size replica of an Ancient Egyptian boat made from glowing displays cases—a sales counter for perfume and jewelry.

"What?" the four from the antique stared weirdly at the book, at least some improvement then keeping their worried gazes on the Gods.

"Well, some of the Egyptian constructions as you had heard are still used and some symbols are pretty popular." Walt explained to them.

"This is the Cairo airport," I said.

"Yes," Zia said. "Now, let's go!"

"Why the rush? Can Serqet... can she follow us through that sand gate?"

"Not through the gate, but she could have used her way through the Duat." Cleo explained before continuing with the reading.

Zia shook her head. "An artifact overheats whenever it creates a gate. It requires a twelve-hour cooldown before it can be used again.

"Which in some situations is pretty useful." Sadie said while her parents exchanged nervous glances, they somehow noticed the implication.

"At least you will soon get to safety." Amir said, he knew that the First Nome was secured and no God could enter it according to his mother's words, though now looking at how the Gods had fled to the present magicians when remembering painful and traumatic memories, something told him that the rule was not in charge anymore.

But we still have to worry about airport security. Unless you'd like to meet the Egyptian police, you'll come with me now."

She grabbed our arms

"For someone who seemed so much against them you were really dedicated to protect them beside our orders." Desjardins noted.

"I think a part of me felt that they were the ones who were in the right, but I suppressed it." Zia answered to the older magician, she kind of also felt good to see him also, he had been kind of much nicer to her then he was with most others.

and steered us through the crowd. We must've looked like beggars in our old-fashioned clothes, covered head-to-toe in sand. People gave us a wide berth, but nobody tried to stop us.

"This is the only case where I agree with that attitude." Ruby huffed.

"Why are we here?" Sadie demanded.

"To see the ruins of Heliopolis," Zia said.

"Ruins…" Ramses asked faintly, the others from the antique looked just as pale and horrified as him, they had all thought that the city would stand proud till the end of time.

"Lost, just like the one who had guarded it." Set whispered painfully as Amos tightened his hold around her.

"Though the city will flourish again, hidden from mortal eyes now that her guardian deity had returned and the ancient bonds are tied together like they should be and had once been." he whispered gently to her while brushing a stray lock of red hair form her face. He felt the God nod his head which was still resting on his chest, signalling to him that she listened to his words.

"Inside an airport?" Sadie asked.

I remembered something Dad had told me years ago, and my scalp tingled.

"Sadie, the ruins are under us." I looked at Zia. "That's right, isn't it?"

At the strange sounds everyone looked to the four ancient royals.

"I…ignore us…please con…continue." Hatshepsut said in a faint, shaking tone, she could not wrap her mind around the fact that their people let something like this happen.

"We will be reading one more chapter, after that we will have dinner and then go to bed." older Amos told the group, most had gone here through enough emotional stress for tonight and he could already see the moon waxing outside as slowly the stars took up their places on the sky.

The others nodded in agreement to the idea, they had three pregnant people present who needed to eat and rest more then them, but seeing how tiring some of these chapters were others also felt the tiredness creeping upon them.

She nodded. "The ancient city was pillaged centuries ago.

Everyone tried to ignore the outraged or chocking sounds coming from those from the far past, as often before they understood that this must be extremely hard on them.

Some of its monuments were carted away, like Cleopatra's two needles. Most of its temples were broken down to make new buildings.

More outraged sounds and growling.

What was left disappeared under Cairo's suburbs. The largest section is under this airport."

"The city of the sun hidden in darkness." Ashkender whispered as he looked over at Set whose stiffness told him that the God was just as angry as them.

"And how does that help us?" Sadie asked.

Zia kicked open a maintenance door. On the other side was a broom closet.

"In the mortal world people would be whistling at this." Jaz said giggling while stroking Tawaret's head.

"So true, mostly the immature and hormonal teenagers." Ruby agreed while her father looked confused what the three want in an airport's broom closet.

Zia muttered a command—"Sahad"—and the image of the closet shimmered and disappeared, revealing a set of stone steps leading down.

Forget that he had even wondered.

"Because not all Heliopolis is in ruins," Zia said. "Follow closely. And touch nothing."

The stairs must've led down about seven million miles,

"It is actually seven and half million miles only." Iskander said to the younger magicians who nodded their heads that they understood.

because we descended forever. The passage had been made for miniature people, too. We had to crouch and crawl most of the way, and even so, I bonked my head on the ceiling a dozen times.

"That tunnel is manmade and was hastily carved in the time of the Napolean expeditions." Desjardins explained, the older tunnels were much wider.

The only light was from a ball of fire in Zia's palm, which made shadows dance across the wall.

Amir was again remembered on his childhood with his mother.

I'd been in places like this before—tunnels inside pyramids, tombs my dad had excavated

No one looked to those from the antique, their heavy breathing as they tried to calm down was enough to know how they were feeling.

—but I've never liked them. Millions of tons of rock above me seemed to crush the air out of my lungs.

"You don't like them because of me, all magicians following a certain God's Path have some similarity to them, my domain is in the air and not under the earth." Carter heard Horus speak in his head.

"I know Horus, do you feel better now?" he asked the God in a gentle tone, no matter how annoying the other could be, Carter still cared about him.

"I still need a few minutes, but I'm somewhat better though sleep sounds good." Carter nodded his head that was good to hear.

Finally we reached the bottom. The tunnel opened up, and Zia stopped abruptly. After my eyes adjusted, I saw why. We were standing at the edge of a chasm.

A single wooden plank spanned the void. On the opposite ledge, two jackal-headed granite warriorsflanked a doorway, their spears crossed over the entrance.

Anubis slightly raised his head at hearing about his statues at the old entrance, his tail shifted to the side, he was also starting to slowly calm down.

Sadie sighed. "Please, no more psychotic statues."

"Sorry." Sadie told Anubis when the black jackal looked up at her with his head tipped to the side, ears pulled back and tipped in the same direction like his head. 'I see what uncle Amos meant that they can pull of the kicked-puppy look pretty well in that form, ugh…the baby will be dangerous to say 'no' to.'

"And to think that she had a crush and dated for a while the God about whom those statues were designed about." Zia whispered to Carter who bit back a snicker, which was so true.

"Do not joke," Zia warmed. "This is an entrance to the First Nome, the oldest branch of the House of Life, headquarters for all magicians.

The magicians nodded their heads that was certainly true and seven years ago they understood just how important the First is.

My job was to bring you here safely, but I cannot help you cross. Each magician must unbar the path for herself, and the challenge is different for each supplicant."

There were several nods again while Mr. Faust stared unbelievingly at his wife, that sounded like suicide to him.

She looked at Sadie expectantly, which annoyed me.

"I was mostly doing that because I was more sure about whom she had and a part of me seemed to also feel that." Zia told Carter before leaning closer to his ear "Don't forget, Isis had betrayed Ra much more then Horus did at that time."she whispered to the other.

"You again mentioned something like this, Zia are you by any chance also a host?" Ruby asked thoughtfully while both Amir and Rachel tensed.

"Yes, I'm the Eye of a God, but I wont tell you who it is, also before finding my original Path I accidentally got in contact with another one." she said when her mother spoke up, her face ashen.

"Nephthys who usually resides in the Nile which is important for our people, it is tradition in my family to give each daughter an amulet with her symbol as a protection and blessing." Rachel said as she looked worriedly at her daughter, so did the other visitors, a fire user and a Water Goddess were not a good combination.

"Yes, but steps were taken so that neither of us gets hurt." Zia reassured her family.

"You also mentioned two or so chapters ago that Nephthys was in a way put out of motion." Julius noted as he looked both at the young woman and the Goddess.

"You will understand better in the second book." Sadie told her father.

"If we already mentioned it, what are the titles of the other two books seeing how we kind of already went over the titles of most of the books by the demigods." younger Amos said as he looked at those from the present.

"The titles of our other books are a bit more spoiler like so sorry, you will need to wait till we finish all forty-one chapters and we will finish today with chapter fourteen." Walt told them.

"Which means that we have still twenty-seven chapters to go before starting the second book." Shelby added in feeling amused that some of the adults looked as if they wanted to groan.

"I will continue now." Cleo said as Leonid flipped to the next page seeing how his girlfriend still had Thoth in her lap.

First Bast, now Zia—both of them treated Sadie like she should have some kind of superpowers. I mean, okay, so she'd been able to blast the library doors apart, but why didn't anyone look at me to do cool tricks?

"No one comments, I got some answers now and as shocking it is also the God who annoys a good deal of others with his ego, but it seems that Isis even tops that." Carter replied grinning as Isis glared at him and then at a laughing Set, which is not exactly effective if you are a bird at it was not as if Set had ever feared her.

Plus, I was still annoyed with Sadie for the comments she'd made at the museum in New York—how I had it so good traveling the world with Dad.

"Ugh…dad again, please don't take this to heart I was a teenager who found himself suddenly thrown into a world I could not imagine existed." Carter told his father hurriedly, though it seemed that the older version was still to busy with Osiris to notice anything which was good.

"I will try Carter." younger Julius said, it seemed that he really made some mistakes which even if they get solved and forgiven will still be needed to be faced by him during these readings, so that he doesn't repeat them. When he found out that Ruby was pregnant he felt ecstatic about the prospect of a child and he wanted to be the best father he could be, but it seemed that his plans didn't work out.

She had no idea how often I wanted to complain about the constant traveling, how many days I wished I didn't have to get on a plane and could just be like a normal kid going to school and making friends.

Julius flinched while Zia leaned against her boyfriend and Sadie looked sadly at her brother, she needed to mature more to understand that Carter never had it better then her, both of them seemed to have had what the other wished for, like two halves of a medal. Wasn't is strange how balance seemed to be everywhere all around them?

"Now you have friends and could go to school." Zia whispered to Carter.

But I couldn't complain. "You always have to look impeccable", Dad had told me.

Julius wanted to groan; by that sentence he was sure that he didn't mean that Carter could never tell him if he was unhappy because of something.

And he didn't just mean my clothes. He meant my attitude. With Mom gone, I was all he had. Dad needed me to be strong. Most days, I didn't mind. I loved my dad. But it was also hard.

Ruby took her husband's hand into her own, she saw that hearing this was hard on him and true a small part of her was angry at Julius for putting so much pressure on such a young child, but another side also knew why that happened. The others were also feeling uncomfortable that they were again privy on something as private as this, but that is not possible to avoid if you read something which was written in another person's point of view, there are bound to be private thoughts in the pages.

Sadie didn't understand that. She had it easy. And now she seemed to be getting all the attention, as if she were the special one. It wasn't fair.

Then I heard Dad's voice in my head: "Fairness means everyone gets what they need. And the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself."

"Tche… that is a nice sentence, but it not always applies in our world." Set spoke up bitterly and she knew that Hades, Prometheus and most of the demigods would agree on that and she gave voice to just that. "You will see that when we read about the things the demigods had gone through and when the time for the passing of the next Great Prophecy comes will go through again with our own children."

Julius did not comment, he wanted to, though before he could he saw the older counterpart of his brother looking at him, somehow his eyes told him that he would loose the argument, but he didn't think that this would happen, but stayed quiet.

I don't know what got into me, but I drew my sword and marched across the plank.

"Now I know that it was the bird and it was already in me." Carter said to lift the mood; Horus only looked up at him and let out an indignant sound which made some chuckle as Carter had hoped.

It was like my legs were working by themselves, not waiting for my brain. Part of me thought: This is a really bad idea.

"That was me." Carter told everyone.

But part of me answered: No, we do not fear this.

"And that was the bird." some snickered at this while Horus proved to them that a bird could look offended.

And the voice didn't sound like mine.

Horus still glared at Carter who was grinning back at him, yup the God was starting to get over his trauma and be his annoying old self again.

"Carter!" Sadie cried.

"I had no clue at that time what had gotten into him and somehow knew that going was not happening out of his decision." Sadie explained, at that time she felt worried for her brother, she feared that he might fall and she would loose the last family she had.

I kept walking. I tried not to look down at the yawning void under my feet, but the sheer size of the chasm made me dizzy. I felt like one of those gyroscope toys, spinning and wobbling as I crossed the narrow plank.

"I would have hit you if you would have dared to pull such a stunt on that, it was already frightening enough with you just walking along that plank." Sadie told her brother, she didn't need at that time more ground to be close to a heart attack.

"And I would have done the same young man." Ruby stated to both her present son and unborn baby.

"I doubt Horus would ever dare to do ballet." Set said in amusement as the falcon let out an angered shriek as the woman in red continued to grin at him.

"That is a horrifying thought." Carter said shuddering as he imagined Horus in a ballet outfit dancing while said God was continuing to shriek and flap his wings before he flew a bit away and took up his human form after realizing that he looked like an idiot.

"I would never do a ballet, I hate that!" the King of Gods yelled, his face flushed while the others broke out laughing which lasted for five minutes after which the Gods one by one took up their humanoid forms and returned to their thrones, or in Osiris's case Julius opened his eyes and Set slid down from Amos's lap, though she slightly hesitated while doing so which was noticed by Tawaret.

As I got closer to the opposite side, the doorway between the two statues began to glow, like a curtain of red light.

Anubis looked confused, why would that colour be close to his statues while some of the others looked at either of the Chief Lectors for answers, some even at Thoth.

"The colour depends on who is coming and whom they worshipped the most, if it is the person I think it is then the colour was to represent fire." older Amos explained after guessing why they were looking at them.

"Ah, that really explains it, when I got there the light was sky-blue." Ruby said while her father paled at the image of his daughter standing on a small plank above gapping darkness.

I took a deep breath. Maybe the red light was a portal, like the gate of sand. If I charged through fast enough...

Then the first dagger shot out of the tunnel.

"A DAGGER?" Mr. Faust yelled in horror, his daughter had stood on that thing while daggers were shoot at her!?

"Dad, as Zia said everyone gets something different." Ruby reassured her father, no need to tell him about the windblasts, but first she needed to talk with her son. "Were you hurt?" she asked worriedly.

"Mom, you will see easily what happened if Cleo continues." Carter told his mother who blushed, remembering that this was written in her son's point of view.

My sword was in motion before I realized it. The dagger should've impaled me in the chest,

Ruby paled.

but somehow I deflected it with my blade and sent it sailing into the abyss.

Ruby stood up from her seat, marched over to Horus and hugged the flushed God and returned to her seat beside Julius.

Two more daggers shot out of the tunnel. I'd never had the best reflexes, but now they sped up. I ducked one dagger and hooked the other with the curved blade of my sword, turned the dagger and flung it back into the tunnel. How the heck did I do that?

"Now I know how it happened." Carter replied calmly as he looked over at Horus who was slowly loosing the blush on his face.

I advanced to the end of the plank and slashed through the red light, which flickered and died. I waited for the statues to come alive, but nothing happened. The only sound was a dagger clattering against the rocks in the chasm far below.

The doorway began to glow again. The red light coalesced into a strange form: a five-foot-tall bird with a man's head.

Mr. Faust shook his head; he could only hope to never see something like that in person.

I raised my sword, but Zia yelled, "Carter, no!"

"Sorry, I think that was still me and I kind of knew who he was." Horus admitted sheepishly while Carter shook his head, he had thought 'monster' or that it was because of the adrenalin, nice to know the actual truth.

"You should still not attack a ba." Ruby said in a scolding tone.

The bird creature folded his wings. His eyes, lined with kohl, narrowed as they studied me. A black ornamental wig glistened on his head, and his face was etched with wrinkles. One of those fake braided pharaoh beards was stuck on his chin like a backward ponytail. He didn't look hostile, except for the red flickering light all around him, and the fact that from the neck down he was the world's largest killer turkey.

There were some snorts at this and Set was sure that this sentence would send the ADHD demigods into hysterical laughing fits later on when they get the books.

"He would certainly feel offended by this." Zia told her boyfriend who at least blushed in embarrassment.

Then a chilling thought occurred to me: This was a bird with a human head, the same form I'd imagined taking when I slept in Amos's house, when my soul left my body and flew to Phoenix. I had no idea what that meant, but it scared me.

"Now I'm used to them and he is more then a good conversation partner." Carter said with a shrug of his shoulder.

The bird creature scratched at the stone floor. Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.

Cleo also smiled as did the others knowing what sentence would fall next, those words had carried a deep truth in them regards the future.

"Pari, niswa nafeer,"

Everyone from the past sat up suddenly straighter in their seats, their eyes turning towards Carter, but no one had a chance to ask because Cleo continued, she certainly was curious how they will react when they find out that Carter is the new Pharaoh of the Per-Ankh.

he told me, or at least that's what it sounded like.

Zia gasped. She and Sadie were standing behind me now, their faces pale.

The visitors could understand that perfectly, the implication of those words…it was, it hadn't been since decades...

Apparently they'd managed to cross the chasm without my noticing.

Finally Zia seemed to collect herself. She bowed to the bird creature. Sadie followed her example.

The creature winked at me, as if we'd just shared a joke.

A few people bit back snickers at this while Amos used his link with Set to tell her about a conversation he had last month with that peculiar ba.

"I had last month a talk with him and he told me that he was sure even in the past when meeting Carter that not only the new king had finally come back to the First Nome, but also finally approached the new queen." he told the God who gave a soft smile at this.

"Ra is since a while waiting for him to ask, his blessing is already with them and neither Bast nor me would hesitate to give our own." Set answered back, she liked Zia because she had been the key to return the one she saw as her true parent back and the time they had spent together had made them also become closer and well Carter certainly got her respect, mostly that he didn't let himself be swayed over by Horus's immense ego.

"That is good to hear that you would also give them your blessing." he told the God who looked a bit uncomfortable. "What is wrong?"

"It is just that, well… not many people like the fact if I give them my blessing." she admitted reluctantly at which Amos gently took one of her hands into this.

"They both like you so it will be fine Set." he told the God, sometimes he felt really annoyed how the other was made insecure about the way people saw him and with the pregnancy going on was it even more noticeable. The two of them will need to talk tonight before going to bed; he can talk with Tawaret regards the progression of the pregnancy tomorrow.

Then he vanished. The red light faded. The statues retracted their arms, uncrossing their spears from the entrance.

"That's it?" I asked. "What did the turkey say?"

Zia looked at me with something like fear.

"I was kind of still in shock from the comment." Zia admitted while gesturing to Cleo to continue before anyone could ask about the deeper meaning of the comment.

"That was not a turkey, Carter. That was a ba."

"I still don't know how that comparison happened." younger Amos mumbled to himself while looking at his nephew, something regards the ba's comment sounded much more then a greeting.

I'd heard my dad use that word before, but I couldn't place it. "Another monster?"

"Uh…you really rarely mentioned about the ba so I had a harder time to remember." Carter explained himself when both versions of their father looked at him perplexed.

"A human soul," Zia said. "In this case, a spirit of the dead. A magician from ancient times, come back to serve as a guardian. They watch the entrances of the House."

The four from the antique exchanged glances with each other, at least some of the past will guard the new generation and give them guidance.

She studied my face as if I'd just developed some terrible rash.

"It was more like, I was trying to see what he had meant when he greeted you." Zia whispered to her blushing boyfriend.

"What?" I demanded. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Nothing," she said. "We must hurry."

Both Ruby and Rachel caught on and shared a small smile with each other.

She squeezed by me on the ledge and disappeared into the tunnel.

Sadie was staring at me too.

"All right," I said. "What did the bird guy say? You understood it?"

She nodded uneasily. "He mistook you for someone else. He must have bad eyesight."

All those from the present bit down on their tongues to not start snickering while their visitors were looking at them questioningly, they wanted answers, but the others didn't look as if they would give it to them.

"Because?"

"Because he said, 'Go forth, good king.'"

Again everyone bit their tongues, but they knew that the questions need to be diverted, luckily seemed Anubis to have come up with an idea to divert the past people's attention for a while.

"He noticed Horus's presence in Carter and most of the bas of the past magicians from really far back like him still respected the Gods and the old ways." he said in a nonchalant tone while the others did their best to look as if this would not be news for them.

"The only one for a good while to recogrinaise me." Horus said sighing as the visitors turned to him.

"So this is what the comment was about?" Ruby asked the God who nodded his head with the others.

"Ah." some answered while Cleo decided that she should continue before someone realizes that they had used a trick on them to divert their attention from the truth.

I was in a daze after that.

"Understandable." Walt mumbled to himself.

We passed through the tunnel and entered a vast underground city of halls and chambers, but I only remember bits and pieces of it.

The ceilings soared to twenty or thirty feet, so it didn't feel like we were underground. Every chamber was lined with massive stone columns like the ones I'd seen in Egyptian ruins, but these were in perfect condition, brightly painted to resemble palm trees, with carved green fronds at the top, so I felt like I was walking through a petrified forest. Fires burned in copper braziers. They didn't seem to make any smoke, but the air smelled good, like a marketplace for spices—cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and others I couldn't identify.

Cleo suddenly started giggling before she continued.

The city smelled like Zia.

The pair blushed again at this while their mothers smiled at them, young love was really adorable, the others did their best not to snicker at the duo.

I realized that this was her home.

"I would like to correct that sentence now, it is our home." Carter said with a smile on his lips which the others returned.

We saw a few other people—mostly older men and women. Some wore linen robes, some modern clothes. One guy in a business suit walked past with a black leopard on a leash, as if that were completely normal.

"Some of my brothers prefer lions or cheetahs more." Ramses spoke up, at least in the Nome seemed things to be a bit like they knew it.

Another guy barked orders to a small army of brooms, mops, and buckets that were scuttling around, cleaning up the city.

"Like that cartoon," Sadie said. "Where Mickey Mouse tries to do magic and the brooms keep splitting and toting water."

"'The Sorcerer's Apprentice,'" Zia said. "You do know that was based on an Egyptian story, don't you?"

"It was one of my favourite stories." Amir admitted, he had on some nights made his mother tell it to him at least twice before falling asleep.

"Mine to." Zia told her father, happy about the similarity.

Sadie just stared back. I knew how she felt. It was too much to process.

We walked through a hall of jackal-headed statues,

"I always wondered, why is the God of Death and Funerals placed on a path leading into the Nome?" Jaz asked before adding "No offence Anubis."

"It is fine, they are partly there since the city had been built and you remember that usually I'm the one making sure that rites get done properly so that the soul can descend to the other side and also the one judging the heart. My statues are there to eliminate those whose hearts are filled with evil." Anubis said when Narmer turned to the two in red and looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"To your great disappointment those statues are not damaged in any way and I can freely move around the First and now that the Gods are allowed back in has Set also no problems with entering." Amos told the pharaoh smirking at which the other only scowled much to Ashkender's amusement.

"You certainly seem to be amused by annoying your ancestor." Ruby whispered to Amos who also noticed this pattern, beside his protectiveness regards the God.

and I could swear their eyes watched us as we passed. A few minutes later, Zia led us through an open-air market—if you can call anything "open-air" underground—

"That was a bad pun Carter." Julian told the other.

"I was only making a statement." he said.

with dozens of stalls selling weird items like boomerang wands, animated clay dolls, parrots, cobras, papyrus scrolls, and hundreds of different glittering amulets.

Those of the adults who had gotten their amulets form one of those stalls gently touched them.

Next we crossed a path of stones over a dark river teeming with fish. I thought they were perch until I saw their vicious teeth.

"Are those piranhas?" I asked.

"Tiger fish from the Nile," Zia said. "Like piranhas, except these can weigh up to sixteen pounds."

"I think Percy would love to meet them." Set said at which beside Amos everyone stared at him wide eyed.

"What, meeting sixteen pound Egyptian piranhas?" asked a shocked Sadie.

"That young man is playing fetch with white sharks and pets them as if they would be dogs, so any questions?" Set asked the gaping magicians.

"Who is his godly parent gain?" Thoth asked remembering that he is the demigod whose adventures they will mainly read about.

"Poseidon, God of the Seas, Earthquakes, Storms and Creator of Horses." the God replied while the others nodded.

"That would explain it." Julian replied blinking, demigods sounded really interesting and in a few months they will have one in their midst.

I watched my step more closely after that.

We turned a corner and passed an ornate building carved out of black rock. Seated pharaohs were chiseled into the walls, and the doorway was shaped like coiled serpent.

"At least they represent Wadjet and not that thing." Amos whispered darkly, he would never forgive that snake as long as he exists, Set smiled at him in agreement.

"What's in there?" Sadie asked.

We peeked inside and saw rows of children—maybe two dozen in all, about six to ten years old or so—sitting cross-legged on cushions. They were hunched over brass bowls, peering intently into some sort of liquid and speaking under their breath. At first I thought it was a classroom, but there was no sign of a teacher, and the chamber was lit only by a few candles. Judging by the number of empty seats, the room was meant to hold twice as many kids.

"The numbers are now closer to that what they should be." older Amos said at which the visitors from the House looked at them hopefully, the thought of more magicians returning to claim their birthright and bringing their children with them was a more then great news to them..

"That is truly a blessing to hear." Iskander said, it felt as if a large boulder would have been lifted from his shoulders after hearing these words, the fear that the House would vanish cleared like fog through the rays of the sun. Now he saw it clearly, the future of the Per-Ankh truly lied with the Gods they had once betrayed and turned their backs to.

"Our initiates," Zia said, "learning to scry. The First Nome must keep in contact with our brethren all over the world. We use our youngest as... operators, I suppose you would say."

"So you've got bases like this all over the world?"

"Most are much smaller, but yes."

"True, not that one can call most Nomes small, but compared to the First they certainly are." Alyssa said with a shrug.

I remembered what Amos had told us about the nomes. "Egypt is the First Nome. New York is the Twenty-first. What's the last one, the Three-hundred-and-sixtieth?"

"That would be Antarctica,"

Felix had a grin on his lips, he loved the cold and had once visited that Nome to see if everything was alright, strangely he seemed to be the only one who had fun there.

Zia said. "A punishment assignment. Nothing there but a couple of cold magicians and some magic penguins."

"Saddly it does not work on some of them to let them understand their faults." Carter said bitterly as the others from their time bowed their heads, so many innocent deaths.

"What happened?" Ruby asked in worry.

"The two other books will tell you." Shelby told the group.

"Magic penguins?"

"Like mine." Felix said grinning, he loved his penguins.

"Don't ask."

Sadie pointed to the children inside. "How does it work? They see images in the water?"

"It's oil," Zia said. "But yes."

"So few," Sadie said. "Are these the only initiates in the whole city?"

"In the whole world," Zia corrected. "There were more before—" She stopped herself.

"We betrayed our Gods." Iskander spoke up in a heavy tone before looking at the Gods. "I'm truly sorry for the unright we had committed against you in our own frustration regards our own mistakes, it may have been Thoth giving me the suggestion, but we embraced it to the fullest without a second thought." he bowed his head.

"Chief Lector…" Desjardins, Amos and Julius started to protest, but the old man held up his hand to silence them.

"I have lived long and held firmly onto my beliefs as I watched our numbers decrease as more and more of our kin decided to leave, to try living a normal life and now I'm here reading these books and hearing from the people of the new age how our numbers are growing again. See the Gods in the midst of magicians like in ancient times, this means that the way to save the House of Life had always been in front of us and we ignored it." he finished, his eyes again on the Gods.

"We had also not believed that we would again be united with the House and that this would save it form disappearing, but only time will tell how things will turn out." Thoth said with a small smile before turning to his follower. "Cleo, please continue."

"Before what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Zia said darkly. "Initiates do our scrying because young minds are most receptive. Magicians begin training no later than the age of ten... with a few dangerous exceptions."

"Well, being powerful can be dangerous if one does not learn how to control it." Carter admitted to stop Zia from feeling guilty again.

"That is certainly true." Ramses found himself voicing his agreement.

"You mean us," I said.

She glanced at me apprehensively, and I knew she was still thinking about what the bird spirit had called me: a good king.

"Which he is, though that doesn't seem to influence Horus." Set whispered to Amos while at the other side of their couch Zia seemed to have told something similar to Carter because he was blushing again.

It seemed so unreal, like our family name in that Blood of the Pharaohs scroll. How could I be related to some ancient kings?

Narmer gave the boy a reassuring smile that he can truly believe that.

And even if I was, I certainly wasn't a king. I had no kingdom.

Again, those from the present tried not to show their amusement that he now certainly had a kingdom.

I didn't even have my single suitcase anymore.

"They'll be waiting for your," Zia said. "Come along."

All eyes travelled over to both Iskander and Desjardins who had also guessed that they are the ones whom Zia had meant with that sentence.

We walked so far, my feet began to ache.

Finally we arrived at a crossroads. On the right was a massive set of bronze doors with fires blazing on either side; on the left, a twenty-foot-tall sphinx carved into the wall. A doorway nestled between its paws, but it was bricked in and covered in cobwebs.

"That looks like the Sphinx in Giza," I said.

"That's because we are directly under the real Sphinx," Zia said. "That tunnels leads straight up to it. Or it used to, before it was sealed."

Leonid shivered and Cleo grabbed his hand while the others had dark looks on their faces.

"We needed to re-seal it in a different way." Sean grumbled to the others, they had been young at that time, but seeing those rebels rush in from that tunnel and sealing the door to the Hall of Ages had been frightening because at that time they all had thought that Amos was in there alone with his attackers.

"But..." I did some quick calculations in my head. "The Sphinx is, like, twenty miles from the Cairo Airport."

"Roughly."

"No way we've walked that far."

Zia actually smiled, and I couldn't noticing how pretty her eyes were.

Carter groaned, Zia blushed and their friends snickered at them.

"Distance changes in magic places, Carter, surely you've learned that by now."

Sadie cleared her throat.

"I needed to, those two were about to start flirting right there in front of me." Sadie defended her actions as the pair blushed again which made their glares less effective.

"So why is the tunnel closed, then?"

"The Sphinx was too popular with archaeologists," Zia said. "They kept digging around, finally, in the 1980s, they discovered the first part of the tunnel under the Sphinx."

"That nearly become a disaster." the older magicians muttered under their breaths.

"Dad told me about that!" I said. "But he said the tunnel was a dead end."

"It was when we got through with it. We couldn't let the archaeologists know how much they're missing. Egypt's leading archaeologist recently speculated that they've only discovered thirty percent of the ancient ruins in Egypt. In truth, they've only discovered one tenth, and not even the interesting tenth."

"What about King Tut's tomb?" I protested.

Carter gave Walt an apologetic look as the other shook his head that he was fine, though Sadie grabbed his hand, a gesture which didn't go unnoticed by her mother who started wondering about the reactions from the three.

"That boy king?" Zia rolled her eyes. "Boring.

Now it was Zia who looked apologetic while some of the Gods also looked uncomfortable.

You should see some of the good tombs."

I felt a little hurt.

Dad had named me after Howard Carter, the guy who discovered King Tut's tomb, so I'd always felt a personal attachment to it.

"So this is how we come up with your name." Julius looked at his son who nodded his head.

If that wasn't a "good" tomb, I wondered what was.

Zia turned to face the bronze doors.

"This is the Hall of Ages." She placed her palm against the seal, which bore the symbol of the House of Life.

The hieroglyphs began to glow, and the doors swung open.

Zia turned to us, her expression deadly serious. "You are about to meet the Chief Lector. Behave yourselves, unless you wish to be turned into insects."

"Please tell me that you did nothing wrong in that meeting." Julius pleaded to his children who looked back at him sheepishly.

"Well, Chief Lector Iskander was fine with us, though Desjardins was still kind of annoyed because of the Stone." Carter told his father who wanted to groan, just great, that was all he needed to hear at least will two people be there to step in.

"Felix, your turn." Cleo said as she passed the book to the other magician.

A French Guy Almost Kills Us

Julius felt again the urge to groan while Desjardins did his best to avoid Ruby's gaze on him.

"A nice title." she grumbled.

"Don't worry mom, it actually went better then one could have hoped for." Sadie added in which made her parents, uncle and Desjardins blink at her, the later mostly because in a way the girl had just defended his future actions.

"True, most of that could have been better avoided if we would have known more about the House." Carter added in, he come to this conclusion after going over his memories about the meeting on the night after the man had died.

Again, Desjardins wondered why now both siblings seemed to defend him and there were those strange looks again he could not identify in their meaning, but they made him uncomfortable.

"Felix." Sean nudged the other magician who understood and started reading the chapter.

The last couple of days I'd seen a lot of crazy things, but the Hall of Ages took the prize.

"It certainly is a beautiful place." Carter said as the others smiled, the Hall was truly magnificent.

Double rows of stone pillars held up a ceiling so high, you could've parked a blimp under it with no trouble. A shimmering blue carpet that looked like water ran down the center of the hall, which was so long, I couldn't see the end even though it was brightly lit. Balls of fire floated around like helium basketballs, changing color whenever they bumped into one another. Millions of tiny hieroglyphic symbols also drifted through the air, randomly combining into words and then breaking apart.

All magicians had smiles on their lips, the Hall was their pride, it held all of their history, the good and the bad times which had shaped their ways and beliefs. If they felt lost entering the Hall of Ages even for only a few minitues could give their soul peace and reassurence that they should not despair and they will find the way they need to walk to step out of the dark and into the sunlight.

I grabbed a pair of glowing red legs.

They walked across my palm before jumping off and dissolving.

But the weirdest things were the displays.

"Displays?" younger Julius asked his son in amusement.

"Not that you were any better, when we first got there you said much to our father's and my embarrassment 'So, these are the magic rugs.'." younger Amos told his blushing brother.

"I remember, dad nearly walked into the wall beside the door seeing how you dragged me in there because you were in a hurry and he was coming behind us." Amos said with a nod as he also remembered that day.

"Felix, please continue." older Julius said pleaded to the young animal charmer while Osiris laughed in his head and by the looks of it were some of the others also close to do the same beside the Rashids who looked curious seeing that Rachel had never been to the First Nome and Amir had also only been there trice in his life and he had been really little at those few times and hardly remembered them.

I don't know what else to call them.

"Now I use their proper name." Carter said, now that he was mostly done with school, his doctorate work was also making it necessary to be in Egypt so he spent more time in the first Nome while Sadie and Walt took care of Brooklyn House in his absence.

Between the columns on either side of us, images shifted, coming into focus and then blurring out again like holograms in a sandstorm.

Set smiled slowly at the comparison while Amos looked amusedly at her.

"Like when a certain deity wants to calm down and causes a three days long sandstorm in the Nevada desert?" he asked, after both of them returned to Brooklyn House and Set punched hours and walked over him they packed and drove to the desert for the other to calm down. He needed to admit that it had been a novel experience, being in the heart of a sandstorm and still not even feel the harsh wind, in the middle of the storm anything was calm and tranquil, he felt safe and at peace there which made him slowly understand why Set always departed there when frustrated. Though something told him that only a few would share their sentiments regards the peace of the desert.

"Come on," Zia told us. "And don't spend too much time looking."

It was impossible not to.

"Though it is important to keep in mind." Sadie said, she didn't feel to happy at the memory that next morning after breakfast they will read about her getting to close to one of them, she also didn't look to desperate for that chapter, because it will sadden Zia.

By the thrones meanwhile Isis shifted again in her throne as both Anubis and Walt gave her dark looks, Sadie had been thrown against one of the tapestries as she had abandoned her at the worst time due to an argument about how her Eye wished to help her uncle who at that time had willingly given himself to Set and their bond was something she had till now never seen before. Till Amos had come around had Set never taken a host for himself, the few of his high priest who had served as host never held his soul for longer then ten to fifteen minutes after that Set broke the contact, the current Chief Lector was the only one with whom he held a longer contact and the person survived. The results of their first bonding had been because of the strange balance of their beings, it had been as if two fires would have been set against each other, but when neither struggled for control their souls were in complet harmony, something she had been sure that Set's soul could never be.

The first twenty feet or so, the magical scenes cast a golden light across the hall.

All Gods had smiles on their lips.

A blazing sun rose above an ocean. A mountain emerged from the water, and I had a feeling I was watching the beginning of the world.

"Because this is exactly what it was." Ashkender said softly, he had always loved reading about the Age of the Gods and of its start.

Giants

"You need to admit that your original height is much more greater then that of mortals." Carter told the Gods who were all looking at him.

"I just remembered, if different Gods are real, but each of the Pantheons have their own myths about how the world had come to be so which is real?" Walt asked suddenly, his gaze on the immortals.

"Each of them." they all replied in union, their voices perfectly normal as if this would not be something stunning.

"What!" yelled the stunned magicians.

"The world is more diverse then you could imagine, all the Pantheons, the way how the Gods have been born is true as are the stories about the start of things, all those combined have created this world together." Thoth told the magicians who were looking at them with wide, stunned eyes, but they understood.

"Wow, this sounds fascinating." Jaz said in awe.

"This is again something the mortals will never know, we have hidden our tracks well through the mist." Isis said with a little smile as the magicians nodded.

"Like Darwin's evolutions theory?" Cleo asked.

"Not fully, that was all of his doing seen how he had been a son of Athena." Set informed the girl.

"And a new prominent historical figure with godly relations." Carter muttered to himself, he will rally need a list to see history much more clearer.

strode across the Nile Valley: a man with black skin and the head of a jackal,

Walt smirked at Anubis who returned it.

a lioness with bloody fangs,

Jaz nodded her head while Horus made new plans for a date if he could manage it after Thoth is finished finding the antidote and he is still free from doing paperwork.

and a beautiful woman with wings of light.

Isis and Sadie looked at each other.

Sadie stepped off the rug. In a trance, she reached toward the images.

"Don't, they look beautiful, but touching them is dangerous if you are not a God." Ruby told her daughter, she didn't like the way she slightly turned her head or the annoyed look some of the others were sending towards Isis. She also didn't like the fact that the mentioning of the Hall by one of the arguments a few chapters ago had come to her mind again, she hoped that her worries were only caused by her hormones.

"Stay on the carpet!" Zia grabbed Sadie's hand and pulled her back toward the center of the hall.

"Thank you." Ruby told the girl while her daughter swallowed her guilt, she had acted really irresponsible and arrogant at that time.

"You are seeing the Age of the Gods. No mortal should dwell on these images."

The magicians nodded their heads when Thoth spoke up all of a sudden.

"Though it may be possible that it is not dangerous if a demigod does so or the Eye of a God if they let their patron God have a stronger control on them as a protection." he told the group while Sadie nodded, that sounded possible.

"It is worth a try for later." Carter said while secretly glancing over at Amos who nodded his head in agreement.

"But..." Sadie blinked. "They're only pictures, aren't they?"

Sadie winched, she wished that they would only be pictures, but no luck in that department in the world of myths, Gods and magic.

"Memories," Zia said, "so powerful they could destroy your mind."

Ruby nodded her head sternly while Sadie bit back a groan, she will be scolded tomorrow now that was for sure, not exactly she wanted to face after breakfast.

"Oh," Sadie said in a small voice.

"Idiotic remark." Sadie mumbled to herself, reading these books and hearing her own actions and thoughts again had she the urge to slap her younger self which was saying something.

We kept walking. The images changed to silver. I saw armies clashing—Egyptians in kilts and sandals and leather armor, fighting with spears. A tall, dark-skinned man in red-and-white armor placed a double crown on his head: Narmer, the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt.

Said pharaoh smiled proudly at the mentioning of his greatest deed of uniting their lands.

Sadie was right: he did look a bit like Dad.

Narmer continued to smile before he remembered the ground for his annoyance since some chapters, the fact that one of his descendants was a follower of the Red Lord, he won't even mention the child.

"This is the Old Kingdom," I guessed. "The first great age of Egypt."

Narmer looked more then pleased at this information while Ashkender crossed his arms.

"And this sentence just did wonders to his ego, even more then some of his advisors tend to do." he mumbled, those were also the ones who made it harder for him to get his brother to see his point about joining the ranks of Lord Set's priests.

Zia nodded. As we walked down the hall, we saw workers building the first step pyramid out of stone. Another few steps, and the biggest pyramid of all rose from the desert of Giza. Its outer layer of smooth white casing stones gleamed in the sun. The thousand workers gathered at its base and knelt before the pharaoh, who raised his hands to the sun, dedicating his own tomb.

"Khufu," I said.

"The baboon?" Sadie asked, suddenly interested.

"I was not the best in Egyptian mythology at that time." Sadie defended herself.

"No, the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid," I said. "It was the tallest structure in the world for almost four thousand years."

Another few steps, and the images turned from silver to coppery.

"The Middle Kingdom," Zia announced. "A bloody, chaotic time. And yet this is when the House of Life came to maturity."

Both Ramses and Hatshepsut nodded their heads, even in their time, those times still left their marks, the Gods also agreed and Set did her best to not look annoyed those times were the ones which slowly started the betrayal she had experienced.

The scenes shifted more rapidly. We watched armies fighting, temples being built, ships sailing on the Nile, and magicians throwing fire. Every step covered hundreds of years, and yet the hall still went on forever. For the first time I understood just how ancient Egypt was.

The ancient rulers and divinities nodded approvingly at this, it was important that those carrying the ancient blood remember their roots while Mr. Faust looked unbelievingly at the book, he really needed to sleep this over.

We crossed another threshold, and the light turned bronze.

"The New Kingdom,"

Both Ramses and Hatshepsut smiled, this was their time of regain, but the next words startled them.

I guessed. "The last time Egypt was ruled by Egyptians."

"What?" they asked in shock.

"The first time both bound the strongest to the Flame of Western Civilization had united with each other was after this era." Thoth spoke up, the two Pantheons had some arguments with each other after the take over, but on some occasions they managed to find a way to get along, this had been the time Set and Hades had built out their friendship which was now doing them a great deed.

Zia said nothing, but I watched scenes that my dad had described to me: Hatshepsut, the greatest female pharaoh,

Said queen blushed slightly at the knowledge how the history remembers her while Felix smiled proudly before he continued reading.

putting on a fake beard and ruling Egypt as a man;

The queen's blush deepened as the others smiled at her.

"The building projects you have started are some of the most well known and admired, the mortuary temple which your vizier Senemut" the queen smiled at the name, the man had been one of her strongest supports and closest friends "in Dier el-Bahri, it still stands and the place is named The Valley of the Kings, the place where most Pharaohs had build their graves. You are also well known for the statuary works and for the restoration of the original Precinct of Mut in Karnak." Carter told the queen.

"She had been more then grateful for that." Tawaret added in with a kind smile.

"I thank you for the kind words." Hatshepsut thanked them, she could usually keep her cool and composure, but at the current moment somehow she could not bring herself to hide her feelings.

Ramses the Great

Ramses sat up straighter in his seat so he missed to see the small smiles on the lips of the Kane siblings, Ruby and her mother.

leading his chariots into battle.

Hearing this he wondered which battle it could be.

I saw magicians duelling in a palace. A man in tattered robes, with a shaggy black beard and wild eyes, threw down his staff, which turned into a serpent and devoured a dozen other snakes.

Mr. Faust frowned at this, the picture sounded strangely familiar to him.

I got a lump in my throat. "Is that—"

"Musa," Zia said. "Or Moshe, as his own people knew him. You call him Moses.

Mr. Faust felt his jaw drop at this, they are telling him here that the Bible or at least some of the things written in it are also true! Yes, he really wished for this chapter to end so that he could go to bed and hope that when he wakes up tomorrow this all turns out to be a weird dream which his wife's tea had caused, but something told him that this will not be the case.

The only foreigner ever to defeat the House in a magic duel."

"It was a shock for our followers and for us to." Isis said, she had been annoyed for almost two months.

I stared at her. "You're kidding, right?"

"It was hard to believe at first." Carter told the others.

"We would not kid about such a thing."

"We accepted the defeat, denying would have been something no one with honour would do." Desjardins pointed out.

The scene shifted again. I saw a man standing over a table of battle figurines:

Those who knew who it was smiled.

wooden toy ships, soldiers, and chariots. The man was dressed like a pharaoh, but his face looked oddly familiar. He looked up and seemed to smile right at me. With a chill, I realized he had the same face as the ba, the bird-faced spirit who'd challenged me on the bridge.

The visitors who knew who that person was blinked while Iskander looked at Carter intrigued, he often talked with the bas of past rulers and almost two decades ago he had told him that he saw a vision, a vision that soon the empty throne would be filled again, but on Earth and in Heaven, now he wondered if that prophecy had come true in the person of the young man sitting in front of him.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Nectanebo II," Zia said. "The last native Egyptian king, and the last sorcerer pharaoh.

"He had also been a follower of the Path of Ra, the last ruler to do so." Zia told the others so she didn't notice the look Set and Amos exchanged.

"He also had a good relationship to both me and Horus as well as some other Gods, religion was important to him." Isis said, the temple she had received from him had been truly beautiful.

"He was also a good strategist." Sadie said remembering how she saw Amos and Zia work on the board he had created.

He could move entire armies, create or destroy navies by moving pieces on his board, but in the end, it was not enough."

"True, he had been betrayed by the one he had trusted." Set said, her words making Osiris and Nephthys flinch on their thrones while others bowed their heads.

We stepped over another line and the images shimmered blue. "These are the Ptolemaic times," Zia said.

The four of the antique listened with interest, they wanted to know what had happened to their land after the last ruler of Egyptian blood had lost, tough they dreaded the knowledge after the things they had heard.

"Alexander the Great conquered the known world, including Egypt. He set up his general Ptolemy as the new pharaoh, and founded a line of Greek kings to rule over Egypt."

Iskander nodded his head, this had been the time the Flame united the two Pantheons and now after so many millennia they were united again, though this time not by concurring.

The Ptolemaic section of the hall was shorter, and seemed sad compared to the others.

"It was, even our allies agree on that." Thoth told them.

The temples were smaller. The kings and queens looked desperate, or lazy, or simply apathetic.

The past rulers looked outraged; this was not how a ruler of Great Egypt should look to the eye of anyone!

There were no great battles... except towards the end.

"More like grasping for a saving line." Horus grumbled, even Ares, Athena and Enyo had agreed with him that the leaders of their people were acting more then pathetic.

I saw Romans march into the city of Alexandria. I saw a woman with dark hair and a white dress drop a snake into her blouse.

"Her master plan to save things had terribly failed with the murderer of both of her lovers, maybe if the first one would have not been betrayed and murdered things would have gone better, but it didn't happen." Isis said sadly, Egypt had been fully lost on that day and… no she would not think about Lord Ra's words to her.

"Cleopatra,"

Iskander bowed his head in sadness, that poor foolish child, she had been not a bad person, but things had been too much for her.

Zia said, "the seventh queen of that name. She tried to stand against the might of Rome, and she lost. When she took her life, the last line of the pharaohs ended.

Those of the antique felt saddened and cold while the others bowed their heads as Felix read the next lines which made the four rulers flinch in despair.

Egypt, the great nation, faded. Our language was forgotten. The ancient rites were suppressed. The House of Life survived, but we were forced into hiding."

"So this is what had happened as Lord Ra's prophecy had come true?" Ramses asked in a sad tone.

"Yes, this is what had happened." Iskander replied to the pharaoh who nodded his head carefully, his eyes filled with sadness at the knowledge.

We passed into an area of red light, and history began to look familiar. I saw Arab armies riding into Egypt, then the Turks. Napoleon marched his army under the shadow of the pyramids. The British came and built the Suez Canal. Slowly Cairo grew into a modern city. And the old ruins faded farther and farther under the sands of the desert.

The Gods glared at their laps or the wall, those from the far past also looked to share their feelings.

"Each year," Zia said, "the Hall of Ages grows longer to encompass our history. Up until the present."

I was so dazed I didn't even realize we'd reached the end of the hall until Sadie grabbed my arm.

"Thanks, I doubt that it would have been appreciated if I would have continued walking." Carter whispered to Sadie who had again switched places with Walt.

"No prob, you walking into Desjardins would have not improved his mood in the least." she whispered back to him, he fully agreed with his sister.

"By the way, sorry is some descriptions are not exactly flattering." Carter said suddenly while Iskander held up his hand, a small smile on his face.

"It is fine though I hope that I had not been to hard on you and your sister." he told the young man who smiled back at him together with his sister.

"You were more then fair with us Master." Carter told the old man while taking Zia's hand into his, the older man nodded.

In front of us stood a dais and on it an empty throne,

Again, those from the present did their best to not smile, that throne was not empty anymore.

a gilded wooden chair with a flail and a shepherd's crook carved in the back— the ancient symbols of the pharaoh.

On the step below the throne sat the oldest man I'd ever seen.

Iskander looked amused while Julius tried not to groan as Desjardins looked offended for his Master whom he saw as a second-grandfather.

"And then we met Ra." Sadie whispered to her brother while Felix continued.

His skin was like lunch-bag paper—brown, thin, and crinkled.

Iskander placed his hand on Desjardin's arm to keep him from commenting, he didn't feel offended by the young man's description, he did not know who he was and had gone through much with to little answers. Julius meanwhile wanted to bang his head against the wall, at least was the Chief Lector not offended and it seemed that he was holding Desjardins back from commenting which was good.

White linen robes hung loosely off his small frame. A leopard skin was draped around his shoulders,

"Which certainly looks appealing on you." Set whispered to Amos, it was his turn now to try keeping a blush at bay.

and his hand shakily held a big wooden staff, which I was sure he was going to drop any minute. But weirdest of all, the glowing hieroglyphs in the air seemed to be coming from him. Multicolored symbols popped up all around him and floated away as if he were some sort of magic bubble machine.

"Carter!" both Juliuses whined as Desjardins felt his jaw drop and this time also Amos placed his hand on the man's other arm.

"This is certainly an interesting comparison young man." Iskander told Carter good naturedly while the other looked back at him with a sheepish smile.

At first I wasn't sure he was even alive.

The old Chief Lector nodded, when he dwelled into his memories of times long past he could certainly give that impression, but he noticed the sadness hushing over the faces of those from the present, somehow this didn't surprise him, he had felt that his time was coming soon to an end.

His milky eyes stared into space. Then he focused on me, and electricity coursed through my body.

"I'm sorry if that had startled you." the old man told Carter.

"It is fine, you wished to confirm something which you had been expecting for some time now and wished to know if it would be the right thing." Carter told him and the Chief Lector nodded, somehow he had a guess that it had to do with the Gods and magicians uniting again.

He wasn't just looking at me. He was scanning me—reading my entire being.

"This is what I meant."

Hide, something inside me.

"That would have been my suggestion, I was at that time not exactly fond of seeing you again Chief Lector." Horus told the man who nodded; he understood the God's feelings towards him whom had ordered the war against them.

I didn't know where the voice came from, but my stomach clenched. My whole body tensed as if I were bracing for a hit, and the electrical feeling subsided.

The old man raised an eyebrow as if I'd surprised him.

"I'm sure you did, something tells me that you had pulled up a mental wall which was strong enough to stop me, that from a magician having not been trained in our ways is remarkable." Iskander told Carter.

"Agreed, even I was surprised that you pulled up the wall without my powers." Horus told Carter who looked in shock at the God, he had thought that it had been Horus and not him.

He glanced behind him and said something in a language I didn't recognize.

"Now I do and as things seem we will be soon having shared language classes." Carter said while looking over at Set questioningly so he didn't notice Julian cringe at his words.

"Yes, you will get classes in Ancient Greek and some Latin from the Roman Demigods and you will teach them Ancient Egyptian." she informed the group at large.

"That sounds interesting." Ruby said.

"Agreed." some of the initiates said.

A second man stepped out of the shadows.

All eyes travelled to Desjardins.

I wanted to yelp. He was the guy who'd been with Zia in the British Museum—the one with the cream-colored robes and forked beard.

Desjardins nodded, at least he didn't get a ridiculous description, but that was all to it he waited for the children to channel their father's annoyingness which drives him mad and then there was still the thing with the Rosetta Stone, that was hard to let go no matter how silly it seems to others.

The bearded man glared at Sadie and me.

Ruby on the other had glared at said man, but did nothing more the way her children had spoken up in his defence had bothered her, she did not know why, but it made her stomach turn painfully.

"I am Desjardins," he said with a French accent.

Desjardins raised an eyebrow, of course he would have a French accent, he was French for goodness shake.

"My master, Chief Lector Iskander, welcomes you to the House of Life."

I couldn't think what to say to that, so of course I asked a stupid question. "He's really old.

This time Julius really groaned while Desjardins returned to gaping in disbelief while said old man let out a soft laugh, he always thought that this fact was obvious.

Why isn't he sitting on the throne?"

This time both Juliuses and younger Amos groaned, the later keeping his grip on Desjardin's arm.

"What a…", but Iskander silenced him with a look before turning to Felix.

"Please, continue young man." he told the teen who nodded.

"At least we don't get a live repeat from that lecture." Sadie whispered to her brother who agreed whole heartedly with her, once had been enough.

Desjardins' nostrils flared, but the old dude, Iskander, just chuckled,

Just like he did now at the 'old dude' comment.

and said something else in that other language.

Desjardins translated stiffly: "The master says thank you for noticing; he is in fact really old.

Desjardins looked annoyed that his Master was so forgiving to these children while the Kane siblings wondered if it had actually been Master Iskander who had been a model to Amos how to play chaperone for people who are hard to control and he did a good job at it.

But the throne is for the pharaoh. It has been vacant since the fall of Egypt to Rome.

Again they held back foreshadowing grins.

It is... comment dit-on?

"Huh?" some asked in confusion while Desjardins flushed.

"I'm good at Alexandrian-Greek, but sometimes when I translate the words come in French to my mind and then I have some little trouble to put them into English." he admitted, not even sure why he did that though he noticed Amos's older self giving him a little smile.

"You were probably meaning to say that it is 'symbolic'." younger Amos whispered to him which made the other man smile, he really preferred the company of the younger Kane brother who seemed to be able to read his moods and know what he wanted to say if he has trouble to translate his French into English.

Symbolic.

Both men smiled again and Desjardins felt again some bitterness that he will lose the person he could see as his friend.

The Chief Lector's role is to serve and protect the pharaoh. Therefore he sits at the foot of the throne."

Carter suddenly tensed and leaned closer to his sister, Zia and Walt, his face etched with confusion.

"What is it?" Sadie asked her brother.

"I just remembered, isn't the place beside the throne by the Gods usually occupied by Set?" he asked them remembering when he sent his ba up right when Horus held his speech after the battle with Apophis.

"That is true, both when Ra regained and now by Horus he is always sitting or standing by the throne with his staff in the hand." Walt told him.

"Ra told me that when the House of Life was founded had Thoth kind of this pattern for the roles of the House's Pharaoh and Chief Lector." Zia added in as she remembered one of her past conversations.

"So in a way are we currently having everyone placed in their original roles both in mortal and divine places." Carter concluded, this sounded certainly interesting that the role of Chief Lector was actually intended to represent Set's role at Ra's side.

"Yes, with Amos being the Eye of Set and Ra having named Horus as his rightful successor with you being his Eye." Zia confirmed.

I looked at Iskander a little nervously. I wondered how many years he'd been sitting on that step.

"To many tiresome years." the old man replied softly, he felt tired and knew that he would soon go to sleep and never wake up again, but it calmed him that he may be allowed to do so with a calm heart, but he could note the panicked look Mitchell was giving him. He knew that the young man had faults and was often angry because he felt that others may look down on him for even thought he was a magician, he was not from the blood of Egypt, but he knew that under all that anger and arrogance was an intelligent young man with a deep dedication to Ma'at and the House as well as to those he considers close to him.

"If you... if he can understand English... what language is he speaking?"

Desjardins sniffed. "The Chief Lector understands many things. But he prefers to speak Alexandrian Greek, his birth tongue."

Mr. Faust raised his eyebrows, what the heck did that mean?

Sadie cleared her throat. "Sorry, his birth tongue? Wasn't Alexander the Great way back in the blue section, thousands of years ago? You make it sound like Lord Salamander is—"

"What!" some of the visitors yelled.

"I'm sorry." Sadie said hurriedly not only to the old man, but also to Zia, Desjardins meanwhile certainly had now the same expression on his face as he had back then, the look which gave you the impression that he will soon start breathing fire or throwing lightning sounded closer to the truth.

"It is fine, your grandfather had by his first time in the Nome also misunderstood my name." Iskander reassured the girl as he remembered the incident while the Kane brothers suddenly understood why their father was almost drilling the man's name into their heads.

"He certainly did." Desjardins grumbled, he was ready to attack, but Nimat and Lord Iskander had both stopped him.

"Lord Iskandar," Desjardins hissed. "Show respect!"

Ruby wanted to snap at the other, but decided against it.

Something clicked in my mind: back in Brooklyn, Amos had talked about the magicians' law against summoning gods—a law made in Roman times by the Chief Lector... Iskander.

The magicians nodded while Mr. Faust gaped in shock.

"Wha…", but then he felt his wife's hand on his arm so he turned to her.

"Those of us who use their magic can reach stunningly high ages." she whispered to him, her family had freely given upon long life.

"Margaret, we are talking about two thousand years." Mr. Faust replied back, no human could live that long, one hundred and a few years over it he could see, but two millennia?

"In the world my family left and our daughter returned to is it possible." Margaret told her husband, her tone filled not only with sincerity, but also some amusement.

Surely it had to be a different guy. Maybe we were talking to Iskander the XXVII or something.

Iskander shook his head, he somehow certainly felt amused by this.

The old man looked me in the eyes. He smiled, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"I have seen many generations of young magicians so I have learned to read people well." Iskander informed Carter who nodded, Amos was also like that, he could read other people well.

He said something in Greek, and Desjardins translated.

"The master says not to worry. You will not be held responsible for the past crimes of your family.

Both Juliuses flinched and did their best to not look at their younger brothers, Ruby and the children as Iskander gave the young woman an apologetic smile who only shook her head to signal to him that she was not angry at him.

At least, not until we have investigated you further."

"Gee... thanks," I said.

"Do not mock our generosity, boy," Desjardins warned.

"That is something your father would have said." younger Amos said at which Carter blushed.

"True, you would have commented something more witty." Desjardins told the man beside him who gave him a grin in response while the Kane siblings looked over at their uncle who had a sad smile on his lips; somehow they knew that the two men, even if never fully admitting it, they had been friends.

"Your father broke our most important law twice:

Both Juliuses flinched again.

once at Cleopatra's Needle, when he tried to summon the gods and your mother died assisting him.

Ruby and her parents also flinched.

Then again at the British Museum, when your father was foolish enough to use the Rosetta Stone itself. Now your uncle is missing—"

This time Desjardins flinched at both of the mentioned facts.

"You know what's happened to Amos?" Sadie blurted out.

Desjardins scowled. "Not yet," he admitted.

Carter, Sadie and Zia gave him sad looks, it must have been no pleasant for him to be reminded in this way that someone whom he saw as a friend being lost and with no clue where to find him. Desjardins didn't see those looks, he was holding back from looking over at the God dressed in Red, unlike his book self he was having an inkling where Amos was and he didn't like it one bit.

"You have to find him!" Sadie cried.

"I would appreciate it." younger Julius mumbled to himself.

"Don't you have some sort of GPS magic or—"

"Saddly not." Ruby said.

"Actually, if one is hosting a God and they are at that time not sharing a body the God could find their host." Thoth explained to the magicians who nodded their heads that was good to know in the option of the hosts.

"We are searching," Desjardins said. "But you cannot worry about Amos. You must stay here. You must be... trained."

"Why do I think that the last word was hard to say for you." Amos whispered to Desjardins as Ruby huffed in annoyance.

I got the impression he was going to say a different word, something not as nice as trained.

Ruby looked even more annoyed as the French magician squirmed in his seat.

Iskander spoke directly to me.

His tone sounded kindly.

Ruby relaxed somewhat.

"The master warns that the Demon Days begin tomorrow at sunset," Desjardins translated. "You must be kept safe."

Ruby smiled at this happily, though she knew that it would be short lived.

"But we have to find our dad!" I said. "Dangerous gods are on the loose out there. We saw Serqet. And Set!"

At these names, Iskander's expression tightened.

Said man looked over at the God who only shrugged.

He turned and gave Desjardins what sounded like an order. Desjardins protested. Iskander repeated his statement.

Desjardins clearly didn't like it,

"I can imagine why I didn't like it." Desjardins grumbled to himself, but he knew that he would not be able to refuse an order no matter if he wanted it or not.

but he bowed to his master. Then he turned toward me. "The Chief Lector wishes to hear your story."

So I told him, with Sadie jumping in whenever I stopped to take a breath. The funny thing was, we both left out certain things without planning to.

"That was mostly thanks to those two." Carter said while looking over at Horus and Isis.

We didn't mention Sadie's magic abilities, or the encounter with the ba who'd called me a king.

Iskander nodded in agreement, hand still on Desjardin's arm, if one of them would have mentioned him then he would have certainly remembered that foretelling about which he had been informed.

It was like I literally couldn't mention those things.

"More like wasn't able." Carter mumbled while looking at Hours who gave him an innocent smile which was not that easy to believe as the God always hoped.

Whenever I tried, the voice inside my head whispered, Not that part. Be silent.

"I was really close to ask if the house has some type of psychiatrist because I fear that I have gone mad." Carter admitted at which Zia looked at him amused.

When I was done, I glanced at Zia. She said nothing, but she was studying me with a troubled expression.

"And you were surprised about that?" Zia asked her boyfriend with a smirk on her lips, it hurt to hear about both Iskander and Desjardins so many years after their deaths, but she was allowed by Lord Osiris to visit them, they were happy now and at peace.

Iskander traced a circle on the step with the butt of his staff. More hieroglyphs popped into the air and floated away.

After several seconds, Desjardins seemed to grow impatient.

"Though now we kind of understand that from the House's point of view our tale sounded pretty ridiculous, leave alone the fact that the Gods were not liked at that time and Dad released five of them in one go." Carter spoke up and again Desjardins was confused asto why the other was defending him.

He stepped forward and glared at us. "You are lying. That could not have been Set. He would need a powerful host to remain in this world. Very powerful."

All eyes slowly travelled to the pair dressed in red.

"Yes?" Amos asked innocently, it was really hard not to grin at the shocked looks he was getting from most of their visitors, Set didn't have such qualms, she certainly found a powerful host who most importantly accepted her.

"Nothing." they all replied and turned back to the book in Felix's hands.

"Look, you," Sadie said.

"And she is channelling her mother." Desjardins said, if for nothing else then to get his mind away from the fact he had mentioned in the last sentence regards a host for Set.

"I don't know what all this rubbish is about hosts,

"I take that back now." now she understood and is again one.

but I saw Set with my own eyes. You were there at the British Museum—you must have done, too. And if Carter saw him in Phoenix, Arizona, then..." She looked at me doubtfully. "Then he's probably not crazy."

Carter smiled at Sadie who returned the smile.

"Thanks, Sis," I mumbled, but Sadie was just getting started.

"And as for Serqet, she's real too! Our friend, my cat, Bast, died protecting us!"

"Not the best thing to add Sadie." Ruby told her daughter.

"I realized that." Sadie admitted, mentioning Bast had only send Desjardins on another roll.

"So," Desjardins said coldly, "you admit to consorting with gods. That makes our investigation much easier. Bast is not your friend. The gods caused the downfall of Egypt.

"It was in a good deal the people who had failed in that, though if you really want also a God to blame there is one with whom you can do that, it should be in the books." Set said coldly while Isis shifted in her throne uncomfortably, she didn't look forward to that chapter. "Felix continue."

It is forbidden to call on their powers. Magicians are sworn to keep the gods from interfering in the mortal world. We must use all our power to fight them."

"Bast said you were paranoid," Sadie added.

"You certainly have an impulsivity to comment at the wrongest of times like only a demigod could." Set said while shaking her head at the blushing girl.

The magician clenched his fists, and the air tingled with the weird smell of ozone, like during a thunderstorm.

"You can use storm type magic?" Ruby asked in a stunned tone while Desjardins only shrugged, he didn't like using that power.

"And now we know even more why I thought that he was Set's host." Carter whispered to Sadie.

The hairs on my neck stood straight up. Before anything bad could happen, Zia stepped in front of us.

"I knew that he would not hurt me." Zia said in a sad tone, no matter his faults Desjardins was on occasions like an older brother to her.

"Lord Desjardins," she pleaded, "there was something strange. When I ensnared the scorpion goddess, she re-formed almost instantly. I could not return her to the Duat, even with the Seven Ribbons.

The Gods let out whimpering sounds, but managed to stay in their seats.

I could only break her hold on the host for a moment. Perhaps the rumors of other escapes—"

"What other escapes?" I asked.

She glanced at me reluctantly. "Other gods, many of them, released since last night from artifacts all over the world. Like a chain reaction—"

"More like the usage of the fact that from my time with protecting Lord Ra each night for millennia I can function with little sleep." Set stated while Horus groaned, he certainly suffered because of that fact.

"You have been really busy then." Sadie said blinking, Set had almost released all the locked away Gods at that time.

"I'm usually dedicated to those things I consider my job." Set replied with a shrug and Narmer was again avoiding his brother's gaze, not wanting to accept that the Red Lords had also a good side to him, he held on stubbornly to that.

"Zia!" Desjardins snapped. "That information is not for sharing."

"Though we would have it figured out soon enough." Carter said, they did meet up with a good deal of Gods.

"Look," I said, "lord, sir, whatever—Bast warned us this would happen. She said Set would release more gods."

"Master," Zia pleaded, "if Ma'at is weakening, if Set is increasing chaos, perhaps that is why I could not banish Serqet."

"We wish that this would have been the truth." those of the present grumbled under their breaths, Set's chaos would have been more welcomed then that of Apophis.

"Ridiculous," Desjardins said. "You are skilled, Zia, but perhaps you were not skilled enough for this encounter.

Before her parents could react Zia spoke up, a small, sad smile on her lips.

"I can't go on missions with you or another of the adult magicians at my side to make me stand in the background while you fight the enemy forever, I needed to grow up sometime." she told Desjardins who nodded his head reluctantly, glad that she was not offended by his words, she was like a little sister in his eyes and he worried about her.

And as for these two, the contamination must be contained."

Zia's face reddened.

"I was angry at this comment and not the former one, I have already explained why." Zia said with a shrug.

She turned her attention to Iskander. "Master, please. Give me a chance with them."

"See." Zia replied while Ruby and Julius smiled at her, grateful that no matter the differences and the short time they had known each other, she still tired to help heir children.

"You forget your place," Desjardins snapped. "These two are guilty and must be destroyed."

My throat started closing up. I looked at Sadie. If we had to make a run for it down that long hall, I didn't like our chances...

The old man finally looked up. He smiled at Zia with true affection. For a second I wondered if she were his great-great-great-granddaughter of something.

"No, though I have always considered Master Iskander as something like a grandfather." Zia admitted at which the man smiled at her with the same kind smile he had always given her, she felt tears threatening to overflow her eyes while her parents looked at them curiously.

He spoke in Greek, and Zia bowed deeply.

Desjardins looked ready to explode.

Desjardins could perfectly understand his book selves reactions.

He swept his robes away from his feet and marched behind the throne.

"The Chief Lector will allow Zia to test you," he growled. "Meanwhile, I will seek out the truth—or the lies—in your story.

"Meaning you will be looking for me?" younger Amos whispered to the French magician at his side who avoided looking at him.

You will be punished for the lies."

I turned to Iskander and copied Zia's bow. Sadie did the same.

"Thank you, master," I said.

The old man studied me for a long time. Again I felt as if he were trying to burn into my soul—not in an angry way. More out of concern.

"I had seen the results of failed hosts." Iskander admitted and Carter nodded, he was thankful for that concern.

Then he mumbled something, and I understood two words: Nectanebo and ba.

The old Chief Lector smiled, so even in that case he had remembered his talk with the ancient ruler, the others on the other hand looked confused.

He opened his hand and a flood of glowing hieroglyphs poured out, swarming around the dais. There was a blinding flash of light, and when I could see again, the dais was empty. The two men were gone.

Zia turned toward us, her expression grim. "I will show you to your quarters. In the morning, your testing begins. We will see what magic you know, and how you know it."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I exchanged an uneasy look with Sadie.

"Sounds fun," Sadie ventured. "And if we fail this test?"

Zia regarded her coldly. "This is not the sort of test you fail, Sadie Kane. You pass or you die."

Mr. Faust looked again at his wife with unbelieving eyes while Set looked thoughtful.

"So this is like the first test a demigod absolves." she said.

"What do you mean?" Jaz asked the God.

"You will see it, but now is the reading over for tonight." Set said as everyone slowly started to get up, stretch themselves and make their ways to the entrance of the attic to go down to have dinner and go to bed.

To be continued…